CHENNAI: A 28-year-old daily wage worker died, and another is in critical condition after they inhaled toxic gas while cleaning a well near Guduvanchery on Thursday.
Sivaprakasham of Muthumariamman Koil Street in Kamarajapuram near Guduvanchery had planned to deepen and clean the well in his house after it dried up due to the summer. Through a private agent, he hired two labourers, Vinoth (28) and Prabhu (25), for the work. The duo entered the well on Thursday afternoon but did not come out for a long time.
When the family peeped into the well, they found both men lying unconscious. Suspecting that toxic gas had accumulated inside the well, they immediately alerted the Maraimalai Nagar Fire and Rescue Services.
Firefighters rushed to the spot and, wearing protective gear and masks, got down into the nearly 60-foot-deep well. They found both labourers unconscious and also detected the presence of toxic gas inside the well. After a difficult rescue operation, the firefighters brought the two men out and sent them to the Chengalpattu Government District Headquarters Hospital in an ambulance.
However, the doctors there declared Vinoth dead on arrival, while Prabhu was admitted to the intensive care unit in critical condition. The Guduvanchery police sent Vinoth's body for post-mortem examination. A case has been registered, and further investigation is under way.